University in Germany
Braunschweig, Niedersachsen, Germany
University profile
The Hochschule für Bildende Künste Braunschweig (HBK Braunschweig, Braunschweig University of Art) is the only state art university in Lower Saxony. It holds university-equivalent status and has the right to award doctorates and habilitations. Its stated mission is the development of art and culture beyond the logic of the art market and the training of artistically independent graduates, alongside a design division with its own research and teaching and scientific and pedagogical units.
The campus lies at Johannes-Selenka-Platz 1 in the western Ringgebiet of Braunschweig, directly beside the A 391, with bus stops at the main entrance. It is organised into six institutes: Freie Kunst, Performative Praxis, Kunst und Bildung, Visuelle Kommunikation, Designforschung, Kunstwissenschaft and Medienwissenschaften. Together they run seven Bachelor and six Master programmes, a ten-semester Diplom and a two-semester Meisterschüler course in Fine Art.
Study programmes
The university has 898 students (winter semester 2025/26), 70 per cent of them women, and 10 per cent of its students are international, from 36 countries. The teaching staff includes 53 professors. Students use 22 workshops (wood, metal, ceramics, bronze casting, plastics, printmaking, photography, film, sound and digital production), studios, computer labs, the Mediothek, the library, the university gallery and the Montagehalle exhibition hall. A canteen (Mensa and Kantina Kreativa, run with the Studierendenwerk) is on campus. Annual events include the Rundgang open days in July, the Kunstmarkt in November and the Studieninformationstag in winter.
International students apply through the online portal; foreign school or first-degree certificates are assessed by uni-assist. German is the language of instruction in all programmes, and the university runs no German courses of its own, pointing students to the language centre of Technische Universität Braunschweig. Partner universities include RMIT Melbourne, Bezalel Academy Jerusalem, Kyoto Seika University and the Korea National University of Arts, and exchange students come through Erasmus+ and university partnerships.
The university charges a semester contribution (Semesterbeitrag) of 469.00 euros per semester, due with the re-registration (by 15 August for the winter semester, 15 February for the summer semester). It is not tuition. The university reports 23,000 euros of income from study fees and long-term study charges in 2023. Guest auditors pay course fees (150 or 200 euros for lectures depending on tuition format, 100 euros per workshop course, 50 euros per assessment).
The university has taken part in the national Deutschlandstipendium since winter semester 2014/15. Selection of talented and high-performing students is by a university committee including students, after nomination by the foundation-year and class professors and the institutes. Sponsors give 1,800 euros per scholarship, matched by the federal government, so that a student receives 300 euros per month over two semesters (3,600 euros). Sponsors for 2026/27 include regional banks, foundations and the Fördererkreis der HBK Braunschweig e.V. Details: Deutschlandstipendium.
The Lower Saxony ministry provides 5,000 euros for 10 scholarships, usually of 500 euros as a one-off payment. Applicants are talented students enrolled in an undergraduate or consecutive Master programme who care alone for a seriously ill relative and are in financial hardship, or who are first-generation students, come from a non-academic family or face particular difficulties through displacement. The 2026 application period ran from 13 October to 4 November 2026; applications are made by requesting an upload link from [email protected] with the subject Landesstipendium. See Landesstipendium Niedersachsen.
On behalf of the state of Lower Saxony the university awards seven 12-month scholarships and residencies each year (5 visual arts, 2 sound art) to artists, plus a curatorial scholarship since 2024. Benefits: 1,600 euros per month, project funds and travel costs, mentoring, access to 21 workshops and laboratories, studio apartments and a final exhibition. Contact: [email protected]. See Braunschweig Projects.
This programme, run with the Lower Saxony ministry, prepares women artists for a professorship: three scholars receive up to 24 months of funding at 1,750 euros per month, with a child supplement, travel costs, 5,000 euros of project funds for teaching, mentoring and a final exhibition. See Dorothea-Erxleben-Programm.
Students can apply to the Fördererkreis der HBK Braunschweig e.V. for project funding. DAAD scholars are asked to contact the International Office ([email protected]). The Studierendenwerk operates the canteen.
Deutschlandstipendium at HBK Braunschweig →
Browse the scholarships listed for Hochschule für Bildende Künste Braunschweig and check each award’s eligibility.
View scholarships for Hochschule für Bildende Künste Braunschweig →The first semester can be entered in the winter semester only. HBK Braunschweig has university status, so all undergraduate programmes require a Hochschulzugangsberechtigung (general university entrance qualification, or a subject-related Fachhochschulreife, for example from a Fachoberschule Gestaltung). Only the Diplom in Fine Art can waive this if outstanding artistic aptitude is established in the artistic admission procedure. Vocational routes (Meisterprüfung, state-certified technician or relevant training with the Z-Prüfung for a subject-related entitlement) are available. All programmes with an art or design component use an artistic admission procedure with a portfolio; its result stays valid for three following enrolment dates and only for the programme concerned.
Applications are submitted through the university's online portal and then in hard copy. Application periods: Freie Kunst Diplom, Visuelle Kommunikation, Kunstpädagogik, Kunst in der Sonderpädagogik and Darstellendes Spiel (Bachelor) 1 February to 15 March; Kunstwissenschaft and Medienwissenschaften (Bachelor) 1 June to 15 July (Medienwissenschaften through TU Braunschweig); Meisterschüler in Freie Kunst 1 February to 15 July. Design in der digitalen Gesellschaft has no application procedure for the winter semester 2026/27. For higher semesters of Fine Art there are two periods: 1 December to 15 January (summer term) and 1 June to 15 July (winter term). Late applications are not considered.
Applicants with school or first-degree certificates from outside Germany who have not passed the Feststellungsprüfung at a Studienkolleg need a preliminary review document (VPD) from uni-assist, which takes about 4 to 6 weeks and can be requested at any time of year. Evaluation follows the KMK recommendations in the DAAD database (anabin). Applicants from China, India and Vietnam need an APS certificate showing a final grade; if no grade is shown, a VPD is needed as well. The application itself must still go through the HBK portal within the deadline.
Proof of language is mandatory. For the Diplom in Fine Art and the B.A. Visuelle Kommunikation a B1 certificate is submitted with the application and B2 proof is needed for enrolment (DSH-1, TestDaF level 3 in all four parts, telc Deutsch B2 Hochschule, Studienkolleg Feststellungsprüfung, Goethe-Zertifikat B2, KMK Sprachdiplom Stufe II or Österreichisches Sprachdiplom B2). For all other programmes a B2 certificate is submitted with the application and C1 is needed for enrolment (DSH-2, TestDaF level 4 in all four parts, Feststellungsprüfung, KMK Sprachdiplom Stufe II, Goethe-Zertifikat C2, telc Deutsch C1 Hochschule or Österreichisches Sprachdiplom C2). The enrolment certificate must be submitted by 30 September, otherwise the application must be repeated the following year. All teaching is in German.
A Bachelor degree or equivalent in a subject named in the programme's access and admission regulations is required. If the degree is not yet complete at the deadline, applicants can be included in selection with at least 150 credit points (six-semester degree), 180 (seven-semester) or 200 (eight-semester), with a certificate from their university and their provisional average grade. Application periods: Transformation Design 1 May to 15 June; Kunstwissenschaft and Medienwissenschaften 1 June to 15 August; Master of Education programmes (Darstellendes Spiel, Kunstpädagogik, Kunst in der Sonderpädagogik) 1 June to 15 July. Meisterschüler applicants must hold a Master degree or Diplom in Fine Art.
The Dr. phil. requires an above-average Master, Diplom, Magister or state examination with components in art, media, design or culture, and a supervision commitment from a member of the university in active service, submitted with a CV and publication list to the Promotionsausschuss before work on the dissertation starts. The Promotionsordnung governs the procedure; doctorates take place in design research, art education, art studies and media studies.
After admission, applicants accept the place and enrol online in the study portal, normally in the first three weeks of August (first two weeks of September for the Master programmes in Kunstwissenschaft and Medienwissenschaften). Documents: enrolment application, copy of passport or ID, proof of health insurance, passport photo and exmatrikulation certificates from previous universities. For a language-preparation visa the university issues an application confirmation on request for a fee of 30 euros, against the international application form, language-course registration and the uni-assist VPD or German translation of certificates. Guest auditors (Gasthörer*innen) may attend courses for a fee.
Main campus, Johannes-Selenka-Platz 1, 38118 Braunschweig. Teaching, studios, workshops, administration and the library are on one campus in the western Ringgebiet, numbered by building (for example buildings 01, 05, 14, 16, 18, 19, 21 and 40). Total usable area is 27,302 sq m (March 2026), including 7,514 sq m of studio, laboratory and IT space, 2,221 sq m of workshops, 2,703 sq m of exhibition and other space and 1,000 sq m for the library.
Studio apartments are provided for holders of the Braunschweig Projects artistic scholarships.
Study programmes offered at Hochschule für Bildende Künste Braunschweig.
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